A Fortnight of Fun and Faculty Fear
by kukipye
Summary: (oh my, it's alliteration.) H.I.V.E. is a school. Schools have holidays. Nero comes up with activities to keep the students... suitably entertained. (While the faculty retreats to a bunker in case the students manage to wreak havoc.) As expected, the fab four (or rather, Shelby and Otto) can't resist sticking their noses where they don't belong. T for.. well.. meh.
1. Chapter 1

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**...**

**I'm really quite ashamed of myself. I'm not sure how many of you follow/used to follow my old, old, old, stories, but truth: I don't think I'm going to continue them. Life got in the way, and I got distracted, and two to three years passed. And I haven't done anything about them, even though I ****_said_**** I would revamp them. **

**So. **

**I'm really, really sorry. But hey- if none of you were following it... well, then that's fine, because I'm not going to go on with them.**

**Don't go read them. They're... [cringes at the mere thought of old writing]**

**Now there's this one. Um. **

**Yeah, okay, I planned to finish this one before I uploaded it but I'm not really good at keeping promises (at least not to myself) so.. Hoping readers give the needed encouragement? [coughreviewscough]**

**One fortnight. ****Fourteen (quite short) days. Fourteen chapters (unless I get real lazy). Here we go~**

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><p>It wasn't as though Maximilian Nero was unaware of the fact that schools have holidays – no, he was, in fact, all <em>too<em> aware of it. But he'd realised that term break was coming again (there really were too many school holidays, and they came with absolutely no warning) too late, and he'd had to prepare the faculty's hide-out, and come up with things to keep the students busy so they wouldn't cause any... damage, and ensuring that whatever activities he came up with were suitably 'fun' so students wouldn't complain and riot... and then there was the matter of transport and protection for the legacy students who were going home for the holidays...

School holidays came a little late that term.

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><p>Shelby was not, by any means, a morning person. Sure, she got up way before Laura to pretty herself up, but that didn't mean she <em>liked<em> to wake up that early. It was just a beauty necessity.

For the record, Laura wasn't a morning person either. But Laura, being so much of an anti-morning person, had recently decided to sleep longer and skip breakfast altogether.

"Didn't scientists say that breakfast is 'the most important meal of the day'?" Shelby had questioned her when Laura had first told her of her plans to sleep longer and eat less. "Don't you believe in what scientists say?"

Laura had sleepily waved her off. "Not according to Laura Brand Research. And by that, I mean I conducted no research whatsoever." Then she'd buried under her blanket like a potato, giving Shelby no more opportunity to argue.

So when Laura finally made her way down to the atrium the first day of term break, the rest of her friends were already gathered on a couch and loudly arguing about whether Nigel should create a hedgehog so they could keep it as a school pet, and whether they should name the hedgehog Max or Francisco. Rather, Shelby and Otto were arguing loudly over Wing, who was sitting in between them. Heaven only knows why he didn't move.

Laura collapsed tiredly onto the couch, forcing Otto to move closer to Wing and forcing Shelby off the couch completely. Shelby clambered on top of the coffee table and settled down on it like a genie, not breaking her stride in her speech of why, exactly, Nigel should manipulate the genes of his scary plant thingy called... Magenta, was it? And make a hedgehog out of a plant and why they should name it Francisco.

Otto made dramatic hand gestures, accidentally bonking Laura on the nose and Wing on the chest. "_But_," he said frantically, "Nigel's hedgehog will probably become all huge and impale everyone with its pricky stuff. And we should call the hedgehog, if we have one, _Max_. Because Nero will think his precious Raven is looking for him every time someone calls for the hedgehog. And have you seen his face when he panics when he thinks Raven is on the search for him? It's hilarious."

Laura closed her eyes. It was holidays. They didn't have any lessons. This could go on forever. Then she opened her eyes again, noticing something out of the corner of her eye. Was that...

Shelby recoiled and her voice rose noticeably in pitch. "Ew. I don't even ship them. Ew."

"I didn't say that _I_ did. But admit it, Nero gets this weird expression, be it whether he's panicking because- well, it's _Raven_, or he's panicking because Raven plus yelling Nero's name means someone's coming to kill him, or he's panicking because he thinks we've done something again... admit it. His expression. Priceless."

Laura glanced at Wing to see if he'd noticed it. He appeared to be not-so-inconspicuously ogling Shelby, but Laura bet he'd seen it. He saw everything. He was a ninja.

"Yeah, yeah. But the hedgehog-"

"Eh, guys." Laura jabbed Otto in his ribs.

"Ow, Laura what was that for?"

Shelby glanced down at the Scottie. "What's up Brand?"

"There's a thing over there."

"The vending machine?" Shelby glanced at the thing and glanced back at her roommate.

"Yeah. That. That wasn't there before, right?"

"Don't worry about it. It's Nero's pathetic attempt to be 'fun'. For the holidays. We already checked it out. Coke, Sprite, Mountain Dew, other carbonated drinks, some teas, some juices, some chips, popcorn," Otto said.

"You guys checked it out without me?" Laura just about managed not to sound like a whiny nine year old.

Shelby kicked her in the shin. "That's what you get for sleeping in late, honey."

Laura pouted. "I wouldnae deny myself the pleasure of sleeping."

"Anyway, it's no fun. Nero said he'd give us fun activities. How is a vending machine even an activity? Nero's _so_ unfun." Shelby shook her head and tsked the headmaster.

"Maybe the vending machine will rear back and begin to consume all of us, like a twisted reverse process." Wing, finally speaking up, being uncharacteristically weird in his suggestion.

Otto looked at him. "Are you... drunk?"

Laura scoffed. "Aye. Drunk on Shelby. Wait. That came out odd."

Both the ninja and the wraith flushed deep, deep, reds.

Otto, being nice for once, changed the topic. "I swear, Nero gets his inspiration from Club Penguin. You know, how they always had these kind of stuff popping out all over the island when there was a special occasion..."

"Play Club Penguin much?" Shelby smirked.

The albino drew back defensively. "Everyone did."

"Aye," Laura sighed. "I did. I also hacked it to get puffles that a non-member couldn't get..." She sighed, reminiscing in her Club Penguin hacking days.

"But a thousand times lamer than Club Penguin," Shelby grumbled. "It's just a vending machine."

Wing looked completely confused. It was an adorable look on him. Poor un-pop-cultured child. Shelby reached over and ruffled his ponytail. "It's okay, Big Guy. I'll get Laura to hack the school network and show you it one day. I'm half-certain HIVEmind already frequents Club Penguin anyway[1]."

Otto perked up suddenly, jumping back into the previous topic with a splash. "Well. This whole 'fun activity' thing would be a whole lot more fun if..." he grinned diabolically. The kind of diabolical grin that only The Otto Malpense could pull off.

Shelby leaned forward, instantly hooked. This smelled of disaster and chaos. It smelled delicious.

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><p>The glass door was grey with soot. A couple muffled curses emanated from the room. Laura slapped her hand on the sensor to open the door, and then peeked cautiously in. "Otto?" she asked hesitantly.<p>

For a moment, he resembled the Doc from Back to the Future. Wild snow-white hair, wild semi-shocked eyes, labcoat. He was surrounded by a bunch of test tubes and several containers filled with what appeared to be clear water. Knowing Otto, they were anything but.

"Otto?" she repeated, this time more in confusion.

He whipped off the goggles. His blue eyes seemed even wilder without them. "Yesssssma'am?"

"Which one is which?"

He sprouted a toothy smile. "That one over there does the truth thingy and that one does the love and that one does the drunk thing and that one does the high thing, and that one does the adrenaline rush." He poked a finger at each container respectively, accidentally sloshing some of the liquid out when he actually jabbed it. "Oopsie daisy lilac pansies."

"Otto," Laura sighed, settling down on a stool, "did you by any chance drink any of these?"

He shook his head vehemently. "I've been a'drinking the carrot juice I found in the vending machine." Otto waved his arm at a mug on the far corner of the table.

"Why does the vending machine dispense carrot juice in mugs. No, wait, why does it even dispense carrot juice. Why do people even like it. It's gross." Laura wrinkled her Scottish nose.

"I happen to be filled with wild desire for carrot juice. I put it in a mug so it would feel classier." Otto's whacked-up logic.

"The carrot juice would feel classier? Or you would?"

"Me. No, the carrot juice. I don't know."

Laura peered at the carrot juice in the mug. It was filled to the brim. But the liquid in one of the containers was suspiciously less than the others...

"By any chance, Otto, did you drink this one?" She picked up the container with less liquid.

"Never. Nevereverevernoooo..." Otto trailed off. "Actuallymaybeyes."

"Well. Okay. So. Which one is which?" Laura glanced warily at the identical, _unlabelled_, containers.

"I forgot."

They shared a long stare.

"It's not like we need to know the difference, right?" Otto said, desperately trying to cover up his mistake.

"Aye, Otto, sometimes I think you'll make the world implode just by trying to fix the coffee machine."

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><p>Shelby grunted as Wing's fist landed just under her ribcage. Stepping backward, she brought her arms up in front of her and swung her leg up to (hopefully) knock Wing down. No such luck. He caught her ankle and flipped her backwards, and she prepared to land flat on her back. A split second before she did, an arm swooped underneath her and saved her from an undignified fall that would forcefully knock all the air from her.<p>

She looked up into his face. His eyes were brown, almost black, and so intense, and he was just so- _gah_. He propped her up, gently bringing her back to stand on her own two feet.

_No_, her mind protested. _Keep holding me like that – all bridal style and everything. _Her mind wandered off to the frivolous regions of Fantasy, where she and Wing were at a wedding – more specifically, _their_ wedding, and he was holding her exactly like that, and their faces would be only two freaking inches from each other and their lips would meet and-

"Do you need to rest?"

Shelby almost scowled. Way to ruin a girl's fantasy. But she was breathless, partly from the exercise and partly because of her fantasy, so she nodded, and they headed over to get a drink. Shelby beelined for the new vending machine Nero had installed in the area.

"All the drinks there are unhealthy," Wing announced.

"I know," she replied, hitting the button for Sprite. "But they might not be here long, and I intend to make full use of it, no matter how lame it is of a 'holiday activity'."

There was a pause on Wing's end. "When are you and Otto going to-"

Instantly, Shelby materialized in front of him, holding a can of Sprite and a finger to his mouth. "Shhh," she whispered. "The walls have ears." Then, taking a sip of her drink, "actually, they don't. But HIVEmind is everywhere, and he reports to Nero, so don't say it out loud. Nero will think it's 'too' fun and get in our way."

Wing looked utterly confused and a tiny bit scared, but at least he'd stopped talking about it.

Shelby drank some more of her Sprite and smiled. It made Wing's stomach butterflies do a waltz, and he smiled back.

Why wouldn't they just _kiss_ already. Gosh.

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><p>HIVEmind lit up Nero's computer screen in his makeshift office in the Faculty Hide-Out Bunker.<p>

"Dr Nero," he said gravely, "there's been a threat against you."

Nero looked up into HIVEmind's eyes.[2] "Pardon?"

"I quote Ms Trinity, who said 'Nero's _so_ unfun.'" HIVEmind stared deep into the headmaster's eyes. "I think action must be taken."

"Yes..." Nero frowned at the disturbing piece of news. "I need to up the fun level."

"I cannot agree more." HIVEmind disappeared, leaving Nero to his thoughts.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Professor Pike poked[3] his head in. "Max," he laughed drunkenly, "come out! There's fun out here! There's no fun in here! It's so unfun in here! So unfun..." Just as suddenly, Pike retreated, leaving his door wide open. Nero stared at the open door. Open doors made him feel naked and exposed.

Sounds of party poppers and laughter and cans opening floated in.

The sound of Raven laughing floated in. Nero bolted upright and out of his seat, stepping out of his room.

Francisco was rubbing Tabitha on her stomach. Nero wasn't sure whether that was inappropriate or not, so he decided to ignore it. Pike and Ms Gonzales were waltzing energetically to imaginary music, and the professor continually stepped on her toes. Gonzales didn't even seem to notice. Meanwhile, Raven was playing darts with her alternate ego, laughing loudly whenever she split the darts by hitting the bulls eye every time.

"No, Raven! Stop winning!"

"Raven my dear, but I _can't_ stop."

Nero shook his head. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to allow Pike to bring in those crates of beer.

Slowly, he reached for the nearest can, opened it and took a sip. If you can't stop them, join them.

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><p><strong>[1]<strong>**This sounds like a plot for a one-shot. Hmmm...**

**[2]****It was here that I realised that it would be fine to ship Nero and HIVEmind, but then again...**

**[3]****Pike poked. Pike poke. Pike poke. I ADMIT THIS WAS GOInG THROUGH MY HEAD WHILE I WROTE THE REST OF THE CHAPTER.**

**I didn't plan on the first chapter being so long... in fact, it was supposed to include more but I figured it was already pretty dang long and I should cut it off already.**

**Look out for the next chapter~~**

**((the first three chapters have been written up, so it's confirmed those will be there, at least))**


	2. Chapter 2

**Aye, this is chapter two.**

**I didn't intend for the first activity to drag on for two days, but it did. Ah, well.**

**Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:**

**Chapter Two. Day Two. **

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><p>Nero sat up groggily and then instantly regretted it as pain split his head. It was kind of like that time when he... Nero scratched his chin. When he... oh yes. That time in Italy when he went for G.L.O.V.E. party and got extremely drunk and Raven had to help him back to the hotel. He'd woken up the next day feeling a lot like this. A hangover, it must be.<p>

Where was the powder room? He could feel the bile rising up his throat. Nero stumbled around the unfamiliar quarters. Ugh. Powder room. Where. Finally he came across a door that he figured would lead to the bathroom and stumbled inside, bending over the toilet bowl and heaving whatever was in his stomach out. God, it smelled horrifying. He smelled horrifying. A few moments dragged by as he leaned over the bowl and eventually Nero, too tired to do anything else, flopped inside the tub and fell asleep.

Twenty minutes later, the Colonel joined him.

And then Pike.

And Leon, and Gonzales and Tennenbaum.

So that's exactly where Raven found all of them, curled up peacefully in the bathtub like some extreme slumber party.

"I can't believe this," she muttered, because, of course, she was the only one to have magically recovered from drinking herself into a ridiculous state.

Although technically Tabitha hadn't even drunk anything... but she was a cat, and cats just liked to sleep, and there was this pile of warm matter (bodies) to sleep on, so why not.

Otto sat alone in the chemistry lab. "Well," he muttered to himself, looking at the chaos spread around him, "wouldn't it be fun to try out the effects of the love serum and the truth serum [1] at the same time on someone? Imagine it."

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><p>Nero woke up surrounded by bodies. In a horror novel, those bodies would be cold and dead, but he wasn't the main protagonist in a horror novel, so these bodies were warm and slightly sweaty. Nero pushed Pike off of him with a groan. Ugh. Hangovers. He washed his face and rinsed his mouth, dragging his tired, hungover body out to the main room. Raven sat primly on the couch, watching television. As Nero neared her, he realised she was really watching... a blank screen. Was she still drunk, he wondered. He thought they'd run out beers after last night.<p>

"HIVEmind was looking for you," Raven said when he was close enough.

"Oh. Right." Nero turned around and headed into the study. He ran a hand through his hair in a futile attempt to look less dishevelled. HIVEmind had seen him in all states, but he was still the headmaster, and headmasters had a reputation to maintain.

"Good morning, Dr. Nero," HIVEmind greeted him.

"Raven said you were looking for me?" Nero settled down tiredly in his chair, rubbing his forehead.

"Yes. The students are still making disturbing remarks. Have you made any progress with upping the enjoyment level?"

"It's a fun level, and I'm going to get started on it right away. Is that all?" Nero glanced at the clock. 2:14pm. He'd taken one heck of a beauty nap.

"That should be everything. I'll make sure to inform you if anything crops up." HIVEmind blinked off the screen.

Sighing, Nero opened a new tab on his monitor, quickly selecting one of his 'most frequently visited' sights. That's right, ya'll – Club Penguin.

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><p>Wing stared in horrification at the chaos that spread around him. The vending machines' glass were smashed in, mini fires had lit up around the area, and students were chasing other students. Block and Tackle were beating the absolute crap out of a PolFi student, and meanwhile other PolFis were sneaking can after can of the disgusting carbonated drinks from the vending machine, probably to use as a leverage over other students later. It was really quite amazing how the students would do anything for a can of that filthy stuff. Wing shook his head.<p>

Shelby snuck up behind the boy. In the midst of his wonderment and amazement of his fellow teenagers, Wing didn't notice her until she tapped him on the shoulder. He fought a blush that tried to creep up to his cheeks. Shelby was so... Shelby. She made him feel something that he had spent so many nights struggling to name, without trying to sound like a completely besotted romantic. In the end, he'd had no choice but to call it what it so obviously was. Love.

"Hey, Wing," she beamed. To the average passer-by, it would have just been an average smile, but to Wing it lit up her entire face and a lot of his face too. He couldn't help smiling back.

"Shelby," he greeted her.

If possible, her smile grew larger. "It's cray-cray. I didn't know this would actually happen." She gestured at the havoc.

"Indeed..." Wing stared at her staring at the bedlam in the atrium. Her blonde hair was escaping from her ponytail in wisps that framed her face perfectly. He resisted the urge to sweep them away like in some ridiculous romance novel.

Shelby laughed. "They haven't even consumed the concoctions. Just wait till that happens." The blonde let out an unexpected squeal of excitement. "It'll be so fun!" Then, grabbing Wing's hand, she pulled him away from the atrium.

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><p>Laura peered at the computer screen, watching the chaos unfold in real time. "Otto, have you..."<p>

"Nope," Otto said, glancing at her quickly, and then back down at his notes.

"Are you sure?" Laura spun around in her chair to look at him. "They're going crazy out there."

"I know. But I had nothing to do with it, I swear."

"But it can't be just because the vending machine got stuck." Laura stared at him suspiciously.

"I had nothing to do with it," Otto insisted. "Block and Tackle just overreacted like their usual selves."

"Of course they did." Laura rolled her eyes. "Of course your potions had nothing to do with it."

"Was that sarcasm? I can never tell, sometimes your normal voice makes everything you say sound sarcastic..." Otto trailed off as Laura's eyes narrowed into a glare. "I take it back. Your Scottish accent is amazing. Scotties are awesome. You're awesome. Yes. There is obviously no-one better."

The door slid open. Both heads shot to face the people who walked in.

"See?" Shelby announced happily. "He's finally confessed, hasn't he? Yes. I can't believe I missed it, though. The next time Otto says he loves you, Laura, I'll make sure I'm videotaping it for your little red-headed kids."

"What." The expression on Laura's face was a mixture of embarrassment, and a whole lot of hope.

Otto's normally pale face had gone completely red, like how it did when he tried to run more than 3 miles in the Colonel's class. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Shelby. You're mistaken." Unfortunately, his mind went.

Shelby sighed. Typical Shelby wasn't embarrassed of her flubs. "Someday, Laura, I promise you, he'll get around to it. I'll make sure of it."

Otto saved both himself and Laura from certain Death By Mortification. "Funny, isn't it, Shelby, how you're so sure of other people's love lives that don't exist when yours isn't even settled? Or has she confessed? Wing?" The albino successfully flipped the table.

Ninja Boy stared back at Otto, then shifted his gaze uncomfortably to the ground.

There was a tense silence in the room.

Laura cleared her throat. "So... Shel... how's the situation, is there anyone under the influence yet?"

"Honestly," Shel flopped on the bed, "it's kind of hard to tell. It's just so crazy out there, some of them could definitely be on an adrenaline high, or under the aphrodisiac. But they could also have just gotten really crazy for junk food. Who knows."

"Technically, only a few of them should have gotten a taste of the serums, so far. I don't think many of them have cracked open a can. I think the entire PolFi stream is going to go kind of..." Otto let their minds fill in the blank.

"Crazeeeeee~" Shelby drew a spiral in the air. "Well. It's their fault after all. Hoarding the snacks to themselves." She tsked.

Wing cleared his throat, settling down in his deskchair opposite Laura. "But it's really our- or your fault. Seeing as you were the ones to spike the supply."

Shelby sat up. "Don't get too technical about it, Wing. We're never at fault."

There was a loud bang outside, sounding remarkably like a flashbang grenade. Wing winced.

Laura glanced at the computer screen. "The Henchmen have begun fighting the PolFis for the food. Needless to say..."

"The Henchmen are winning," Otto finished, making the two sound utterly telepathic and slightly creepy. "See, my friends, this is what being holed up in a volcano-boarding-school with only healthy food does to pubescent teenagers."

"True that, Snow White~" Shelby said.

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><p>Block bared his teeth at a scrawny, undersized PolFi. "Give me da food,"[2] he hissed, spit flying into the poor PolFi's face. It really was no wonder why the kid wanted the snacks. He was puny.<p>

The PolFi, unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, decided that he was just as big, if not bigger than the Henchman, and growled back. Gee golly, it was turning into an animalistic fight.

Block swung a fist at the PolFi's face, contacting with a sickening crunch, and grabbed the chips. Then, apparently deciding that that was insufficient, slugged him in the stomach as well. And then walked away triumphantly, nodding at fellow Henchmen who were winning the Food War by- well, a lot, leaving the PolFi crumpled in a foetal ball on the atrium floor.

Now, duplicate this scene about one hundred times, and you have the result of the entire atrium. Duplicate that by ten, and you have the result of the entire school.

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><p>"Otto," Laura warned, "you need to find a way to stop this, the Henchmen are winning. And adrenaline high, lovesick, drunk and high Henchmen is not something I want to deal with."<p>

Otto pouted. "I really thought the PolFis would put up more of a fight. Where are the SciTechs and Alphas, anyway?"

"The SciTechs were smart enough to hide away, and the Alphas... hey, where are they?" Laura's green eyes widened. "Crap. Crapcrapcrap."

Shelby threw her head back and laughed. "Not crap, Brand! It's going to be so much fun! It'll go down in history."

Wing watched the blonde roll around on the bed. "Haven't we already gone down in history too many times?"

"You can never go down in history too many times," Otto assured him.

* * *

><p>"Dr. Nero?" HIVEmind flashed onto Nero's screen. Four hours later, and he was still roaming Club Penguin. "We have a problem."<p>

"I realise that," Nero replied. It wasn't as though one could miss the sounds of destruction... although... the Faculty Bunker was supposed to be soundproof... He should get that seen to. He'd responded to the sounds of chaos leaking into the bunker by immersing himself in the land of virtual, colourful penguins. The faculty had responded by getting more drunk, because Pike had managed to create more alcoholic drinks somehow. So far no-one had disturbed him except HIVEmind.

"Are you going to do something about it?" HIVEmind was bordering dangerously on insubordination. One didn't simply question their master, after all.

"Of course. I've listed down several ideas," Nero told him, and proceeded to read them out.

"I suppose these would help to control the student population, and keep them busy enough to keep them from causing more chaos..." HIVEmind watched the headmaster uncertainly. Nero didn't look right. He looked... well, tired. His eyes were bloodshot and his usually impeccable hair was ruffled, like he'd run his hand through it too many times. Deciding not to say anything about it, HIVEmind disappeared, leaving the headmaster to his penguin.

* * *

><p><strong>[1] I wanted to say aphrodisiac and veritaserum. But. <strong>

**[2] This is, in actual fact, how Block and Tackle talk in the books... Mark Walden, you made me cringe at their speech. Ah, well.**

**Sorry for the abrupt ending, I felt the chapter getting too long again. Hope you've stuck with me through the first two chapters :3 (andalsothisonefeelslikeafillerchapterhahahahaoops) (anditappearsI'mnotgoodwritingchaos)**

**Apologies if the fab four have gotten OOC. :/ Also if it wasn't clear or anything, because I confused even myself (lmao) when I reread it, at first the PolFis were winning because they were sneaking away with the snacks and drinks, but then the Henchmen turned the tables by using brute force uh oh**

**Also sailorraven34, hmm... by that I meant that Raven developed a split personality when she was drunk, and so she was basically talking to herself while playing darts. (I don't really do PMs, heh) **


	3. Chapter 3 and one-quarter

**Guys...**

**Uh. I didn't update this, like I said I would.**

**Major cringe. Um.**

**And I _know _I said I had at least 3 chapters written (and I did!) but they were kind of terrible and not edited _at all_, and so I never got around to posting them.**

**You have every right to be mad. I know. I'm sorry.**

**Anyway, I won't be posting (probably) for a very, very long time, and I stumbled across this file in my laptop...**

**You don't want to hear one giant mess of a ramble here.**

**I present to you, the horribly unedited Chapters 3 and One Quarter (I wrote a teensy tiny bit of Chapter 4).**

**Also. There's a cliffhanger! Woohoo! (Sorry.)**

* * *

><p>Laura sat next to Otto on the floor near the desk. The room was dark, the only light coming from a small atom shaped nightlight near Otto's bed. (Shelby had snickered when she saw it, and Otto had turned cherry, and nearly tackled her but the look Wing gave him clearly said <em>don't touch Shelby, only I will be allowed to<em>, to which Otto had replied with an eye roll of _and when are you ever going to do _that, _Wing_. The Asian would have replied with another meaningful look if the girls hadn't been staring by then, and that was the story of how Otto almost tackled Wing's to-be-girlfriend but didn't because they gave each other many looks.)

"How long is the serum supposed to last?" Laura whispered through the dark.

"Uh, eight hours, give or take. Depends on how much they've consumed." Otto whispered back at her.

Laura cursed unladylike-ly. "I can't believe I actually went through with this plan."

"Ohmygosh, either stop talking or talk a little louder so we can all hear your little declarations of love!" Shelby exclaimed. She was spread-eagled on the bed.

"Cranky, aren't you," Laura remarked, choosing wisely to ignore the 'declarations of love' part. Psh. Otto and her weren't in love. Although, his hair was remarkably adorable... and his blue eyes were always so wonderfully sharp, and deep, and she couldn't even swim, so she always drowned in them, and then there was that little warm fuzzy feeling that overtook her whenever they were talking, or just together... _No Brand,_ she reminded herself. _Not in love. This is not love_.

"Well," Shelby said loudly. "I have been stuck in this puny room with _three_ other people for the past 5 hours, and eaten only a lollipop."

Laura scoffed. "Like you usually survive on anything more."

"Wha- I happen to eat more than you, missus."

"_Ladies, ladies._ We're trying to survive here. And we can't do that if we go outside." Otto raised his hands like he was the Ultimate Peacekeeper.

Shelby scowled. "And whose fault was that?"

"Yours. Duh." Otto rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't just mine!" Shelby raised her ever-so-American voice.

"Yeah, yeah," Otto ran a hand through his hair. Beside him, Laura bit back a girlish swoon and hugged her knees to her chest instead.

Before Shelby could retaliate again, Wing, who'd been positioned at the door, guarding it, moved over to the bed and sat down beside her. Shelby stiffened visibly. "Please be quieter," he said in a low voice. "We don't want to attract any attention to the room, remember?"

Shelby's scowl deepened. "But," she took a deep breath, "_BUT I'M HUNGRY_."

Three pairs of eyes shot to glare at the blonde.

"Shel," Laura snapped. "We're all hungry. But we also want to live, and-"

There was a knock on the door. It sounded like a friendly knock. But then again... All four Alphas held their breath.

"Am I hearing that someone is being hungry?" A heavy German voice chirped.

The Alphas let out a collective sigh.

"Franz's Snack Delivery. I am being at your service." The voice was ridiculously chirpy.

The Alphas shared a glance, and then, before anyone could react, Shelby had rocketed off the bed and slapped the door release. It slid open, revealing Franz being held in a chokehold by a Henchman. Franz whimpered apologetically.

"Alphas." The Henchman grinned. "Heeello Alphas. Puny Alphas. Where's da food?" He took a step into the room, Franz shuffling to move around with him.

Wing stood up, stepping in front of Shelby, who was staring up at the Henchman with a bunny-in-the-headlights look. "Leave," he told the Henchman firmly.

The Henchman sneered. "Out of my way, Alpha." He moved to shove Wing out of the way, and in one fluid motion Wing swept the Henchman's feet out from underneath him. The heavy weight landed on his back hard, releasing Franz who scuttled into the attached bathroom without a word.

"Out, out, out," Laura hissed at her friends, scrambling past the Henchman and out into the atrium. Given the circumstances, it would be better to risk the outside than be trapped with a Henchman. She felt a twinge of guilt for leaving Franz behind but that was quickly replaced with self-preservation instincts when a PolFi came flying towards her. She let out a girlish shout and had only time to recoil from the flying body before Otto put his tackling skills to use and tackled her to the ground, and they landed hard on the ground like in those clichéd movie scenes. Only it wasn't as romantic as it had always seemed to Laura, because for a moment all she could feel was pain shoot up her side and slowly spread out into an ache all over her midsection. Yep. Definitely a bruise in the morning.

The second thing Laura noticed was Otto's body on top of her arm. She resisted the very strong urge to feel whether he had abs and decided to focus on his face, which was so close their noses were almost touching. Funny, this close she finally noticed the extremely faint splash of freckles over the bridge of his nose, and how his eyelashes were actually white and seemed to be made up of fairy dust; they were so light-coloured. And how his lips were pretty pale too, but the ever present quirk of his lips that looked like a smirk from afar was more like a tiny curious smile up close, and she so wanted to run her finger over it, just to see whether it ever disappeared. The little voice in her head chose that moment to kick in. _Ah, love_, it whispered. The urges were quashed. _Not love_, Laura replied, and tugged her arm out from under Otto.

Otto landed in a heap on the ground, looking up pathetically at Laura. The quirk tugged at his mouth.

Laura dragged her gaze from his lips and past him, where Shelby was trying to hold on to a Mountain Dew can while a SciTech girl tried to jerk it away from her. Behind her, a Henchman snuck up, obviously to steal the can, and without a glance Shelby kicked him in the gut. He doubled over, and the SciTech girl stopped yanking on the can, gazing at Shelby with a mixture of awe and fear (a lot like Wing's expression when he looked at Shelby, Laura mused) before running off to join her other white suited friends in guarding a measly pile of snacks. Shelby triumphantly cracked open her can and walked over to Laura, offering her a hand. Laura took it and got to her feet. "I didn't think you'd join in," the Scottie said.

Shelby took a long sip of Mountain Dew. "I didn't think so either. But then competitive Asian kid over there [1] challenged me to see who could collect more snacks. And I figured that if he was finally getting some sense of fun I might as well join in. Who knows why he wants to get snacks. He doesn't touch any of it. I think he just wants the challenge."

Otto had finally gotten to his feet and joined the two girls. "Ah, yes. It's part of his ploy to get you. Number one on his list was to be more spontaneous, although I did explain to him that planning spontaneity was completely ironic. Number two was to do some competition where you and him teamed up against me and Laura so he could get some time alone with yo-"

Wing quietly picked up Otto – who instantly began flailing like a fish – and threw him over his shoulder, bringing him some distance away. The girls watched as he appeared to reprimand the albino.

"Well," Laura announced, "I, for one, think you should go along with this plan."

"Yeah... sure." As hard as the blonde tried, she couldn't keep the grin from spreading across her face. _He likes me._

* * *

><p>"Dr... Nero?"<p>

"HIVEmind, please."

"But I must remind you-"

"You have reminded me five times in the past twenty minutes."

"The PolFis have managed to hoard about three-quarters of the entire supply. For some strange reason, the Henchmen seem to have developed feelings for each other... and the SciTechs are almost equally split between jumping into the waterfall declaring it feeling like a rainbow bath or doing something called the Harlem Shake in the training area. Also it seems that the PolFis are poring over their textbooks; I'm not quite sure what to make of it."

"Thank you for the update."

"Additionally the faculty is attempting to make Raven float from a chair. They've devised two methods. Professor Pike is certain he can do it with helium, and Francisco thinks he is able to do levitation."

"...Thank you for the update."

"Also-"

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>Shelby fell silently from the ventilation shaft, brushing off dust from her black jumpsuit as she walked up behind the group of PolFis who were poring over a pile of textbooks. They were in a small alcove of the volcano, which had low ceilings and only one entrance, and had been chosen as PolFi headquarters.<p>

Wing peered out of the shaft opening and held down a sack, which Shelby had managed to acquire from somewhere. Shelby tossed the newly stolen snacks and etcetera into the sack, and Wing lifted it carefully into the shaft. She stuck a hand up and Wing lifted her up too, and the ventilation shaft cover was replaced without a sound.

Inside, Shelby grinned, light from below reflecting off her teeth. "You and I make a good team, big guy. I bet we're winning."

* * *

><p>Laura was more fit of the two, and so she was chosen to be the one to run in and grab as many snacks as she could once Otto gave her the signal...<p>

"Fleece!" Otto yelped down the suspiciously empty corridor.

Laura peered into the lab as the SciTech students started falling right where they stood. Quickly donning her headgear, she slipped into the lab and shoved as many goods as she could into the duffel bag. "Uno," she called out, tossing the bag into the corridor. It was instantly dragged into the supply closet that Otto was hidden in. She kept stashing the snacks until bag number Cinco, when the SciTech students began to drowsily awaken. She scurried out of the lab and joined Otto in the supply closet.

"Remind me," she said, removing the protective headgear, "why we had to use weird signal words and Spanish."

Otto stared, transfixed by her red hair for a moment. Two moments later, he met her eyes. "Oh, well, that's because it sounds cooler. Yes."

Laura flopped down on her back. "I'll go with that." She smiled suddenly. "I bet we're winning."

* * *

><p>The bags of snacks were piling up in both hideaways. Team Ottra had chosen the girls' room, Team Wingelby the boys' room.<p>

They certainly were the most capable team(s).

* * *

><p>"Wait." The head honcho PolFi took a step up onto the pile of books to elevate himself above the rest of the PolFis. "Where are the snacks. Where is the food. Where. <em>Where. WHERE."<em>

* * *

><p>"WHERE IS DA FOOD." Block.<p>

"YEAH, FOOD." Tackle.

"FOOOOOD." Rest of the Henchmen.

* * *

><p>"Now, now, my little chickens. Calm, calm. <em>NOW SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE THE SNACKS HAVE UTTERLY DISAPPEARED TO." <em> Cool, calm, SciTech quickly lost his big, short temper.

* * *

><p>"Otto, by any chance, did you add any addictive to the serums?"<p>

"Maybe."

"That means yes. Whenever the kid goes _maybe_, he means _yes, most definitely."_

"I can ascertain this true fact."

* * *

><p>"I have good news, Dr Nero."<p>

"That's good."

"By stealing all the snacks, Mr Malpense, Mr Fanchu, Ms Brand and Ms Trinity have effectively ended all rioting. It will take some time for the addictive to wear off though, so there will be some... searching. Might I suggest that the next activity be not so easily sabotaged."

"Oh, so it all worked out fine, then?"

"Yes, it did. I can't say the same for the faculty though. Also... I would recommend you get some proper sleep. Your eyes look rather... red."

"Indeed."

"Could I inquire as so what the next activity from your list will be carried out?"

"Simulation. School-wide simulation. I have to say, my inspiration came from Club Penguin."

* * *

><p><strong>[1] I meant no insult to any Asian out there.<strong>

**OHMYGOsH that took me so long to write out, I did it right around the time of my finals (ugh) so it took forever. And yes, I did get lazy at the last parts. Thus the only dialogue and HIVEmind's convenient summary that wrapped it all up. Also I'm terrible at describing the level of chaos that I pictured in my mind, and yes, I focused mostly on the Fab Four because they're easier to write (and I'm lazy, that too) and so the chaos is mostly background-ish. **

**I don't actually like describing the Henchmen as they are, as dumb walking sacks of meat. But that's how they're described in the books, and in an effort to stay in character, well...**

**My plot is so weak. (The Club Penguin parts were originally set as a simple joke, but it evolved into Nero's obsession.)**

**There are so many flaws with this story, but I hope you liked the Fab Four interaction moments because I like writing those the most.**

**(My A/Ns are so long I'm sorry)**

**Review!**

* * *

><p><strong>And here begins the little wittle bit of Chapter 4. (Be as disappointed in me as I am.)<strong>

* * *

><p>There were no longer vending machines anywhere, which led Otto to believe that either a) the PolFis had managed to smuggle them away, or b) Nero had gotten rid of them. Either way, they were gone and Otto didn't think they'd be coming back anytime soon. Nero was a stickler for order.<p>

When Otto woke up that morning, two things registered: Wing wasn't in his bed, and there was one of the helmets from the simulation suits on his table. He rolled out of bed and pulled out his blackbox. HIVEmind greeted him cheerfully. "Good morning, Otto. How may I be of help?"

Otto blinked sleepily at the AI. "There's a thing on my desk..?"

"That would be your simulation helmet. Dr Nero planned another activity. Please put on the helmet for further instructions. Is there anything else?"

"No, I guess not." With that, HIVEmind disappeared.

Otto picked up the helmet curiously. Then he slid it on, and the world around him changed in a single instant. Everything looked as though it were flash animated, and he realised that his black jumpsuit had turned into a generic off-white color, like a fresh sheet of paper. His hands looked like one simple flat color, instead of being textured like a normal human hand. Almost as if... he'd been transported into a video game. He smiled. Good one, Nero.

"HIVEmind?" HIVEmind appeared on the inner side of the helmet's visor in front of Otto's face at his call. "What else can this helmet do?"

"There is a button on the right temple that will open a panel to allow you to digitally change your appearance... of course, only visible when the helmet is on. Additionally, more details about this simulation can be found when you open that panel. Many things can be accessed from that single panel. The only thing the helmet cannot do is transport you from one place to another."

"Okay. Thanks, Big Blue." Otto opened the panel to see what he could mess with. As it appeared, all he could change now was the color of his jumpsuit. If he wanted more... well, there was a coin count at the corner of the panel. That obviously meant he'd have to collect coins to perhaps buy other accessories or abilities. He switched the color of his jumpsuit back to black (after all, he didn't want to walk around looking like a skinny polar bear) and slid open the door to the cell. Time to face the world.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry if some things didn't make sense, I really didn't read through it before posting it. (Un-edited~~)<strong>

**I'm discontinuing this fic. (As I have with so, so many others... well hey I never intended to become one of _those_ authors... but I did. Needless to say.) Unless someone out there has major issues with my not continuing of this, it will stay as this cliffhanger forever.**

**See you guys around! **

**Signing off,  
>kukipye<strong>


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